Ghana’s Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine, took the remarkable step on Wednesday of withdrawing two boxes of documentary evidence from the criminal trial of former National Food and Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba and four co-accused, in a development that visibly unsettled both sides in the Accra courtroom.
The withdrawn documents, which had been filed as prosecution exhibits and referenced in paragraph 38 of the witness statement of Julius Nudawu, a staff officer at the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), purportedly showed supplies authenticated by the Ministry of Education and payments made by the Ministry in favour of NAFCO. The Attorney General’s Office announced it would no longer rely on the materials, which had already been served on the accused persons as part of the prosecution’s case.
The move followed sustained objections from counsel for the first accused, former Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame, and counsel for the second accused, Augustine Obuor. Defence lawyers had challenged the documents on grounds of a lack of clarity and the prosecution’s failure to establish how they connected to the alleged irregular payments at the centre of the charges. The withdrawal drew a visible reaction from the full court, as the documents had appeared foundational to the prosecution’s case against the accused.
The hearing produced two additional controversies involving EOCO. Dame raised an urgent complaint over graffiti markings allegedly made by EOCO officers on his client’s residence on April 8, 2026, without a court order. He argued the act was a violation of the accused’s constitutional right to dignity and the presumption of innocence. EOCO officers present in court acknowledged such an incident had taken place but said they had no direct involvement and lacked full details. The court ordered the Assets and Surveillance Department of EOCO to appear at the next hearing date to respond to the allegation.
A separate procedural objection centred on the presence of an assistant staff officer from EOCO who was announced as appearing alongside the Attorney General’s legal team. Dame argued that under the Law Officers Act of 1974, an EOCO officer falls outside the Attorney General’s Department and therefore has no standing to represent the state in the proceedings. The court directed the Attorney General to produce documentary evidence of the officer’s authorisation to prosecute alongside the state, deferring a ruling on the matter.
Obuor also pressed for the return of electronic devices seized from the second accused and her children, including an iPhone 14 Pro Max, Tecno smartphones, and laptops, arguing that case management had concluded without any of the items being listed as prosecution exhibits. Dame added that phones belonging to his client and the client’s driver had similarly been taken. The Attorney General’s Office said it was not in a position to fully address those concerns at that sitting. The court again directed EOCO officials to appear at the next hearing to address both the graffiti complaint and the question of the seized devices.
The case has been adjourned to April 29, 2026, at 12:00 PM, when EOCO is expected to answer the outstanding questions and the court is likely to rule on the procedural objections raised by defence counsel.
Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba and his co-accused face 24 charges including stealing, money laundering, fraudulently causing financial loss to the Republic, using public office for profit, and intentional dissipation of public funds. Prosecutors allege a criminal scheme through which more than GH¢78 million in public funds was siphoned from NAFCO during his tenure as Chief Executive from 2017 to 2024. All accused persons have pleaded not guilty.
